– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
DALLAS — The only thing Dallas Stars goalkeeper Jake Oettinger liked seeing more than the sellout crowd cheering his team on during the curtain-raising home opener for the new season was the colors of their opponents, which always seem to bring out the best in the young netminder. Tonight was more of the same brilliance from Oettinger, and more of the same dominance from the Stars inside their friendly confines.
Oettinger made 39 saves while the Stars scored two first-period goals and never trailed during their 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Dallas’ home opener on Tuesday evening inside American Airlines Center. Roope Hintz tallied three points as the Stars won their third game in as many contests to start the season under first-year head coach Glen Gulutzan.
Hailing from Lakeville, Minnesota, Oettinger is now 8-0-3 in his career against the Wild.
Though the Wild outshot Dallas 14-11 in the first period, it was the Stars that got the early jump. Hintz came out from behind the Wild net with possession before passing the puck to Lindell on the high slot, and the latter wristed a shot past Wild goalkeeper Filip Gustavsson at the 5:37 mark to open the scoring. Wyatt Johnston doubled Dallas’ lead late in the first period as he scored down low after skating at Wild defender Jake Middleton, who lost his stick in the build-up. Matt Duchene scored early in the second on a power play for a 3-0 lead.
The Wild came out of the second intermission inspired, and Matt Boldy scored his fourth goal in as many games for the Wild, pulling Minnesota to within 3-1 at 3:50 in the third period when he tipped in a point shot from Zeev Buium in the slot on the power play. Kaprizov cut it to 3-2 at 13:04 with a shot from the top of the right face-off circle on the power play.
Minnesota outshot the Stars 17-4 in the third period.
“Third period was great. Made some great adjustments and went out there and played the best game we could to find a way to win. Lot of credit to everyone in the room,” said Boldy, who became the first player in Wild history to score a goal in each of the first four games of a season. “Back-to-backs are tough, but it’s no excuse. I thought we came out really well the first 10 minutes and then they kind of stepped on the gas a little. We had spots in our game that weren’t the best, but it’s hard to get your legs, momentum. But I’m proud of the way we played in the third to give us a chance.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 24 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
